Projections
by BlanK-EffecT
Summary: What started as a fierce desire to prove his own strength… ends up with darker-than-Dark Guilds and mysterious connections to Zeref and Jellal. There's dark secrets behind some types of magic...
1. Chapter 1

**SUMMARY:**

**What started as a fierce desire to prove his own strength… ends up with darker-than-Dark Guilds, mysterious connections to Zeref and Jellal, and power and control of which Natsu could never have even dreamed. But the price he pays… are the memories of the past themselves?**

**Somewhat dark themes. Powerful-but-antagonistic-and-yet-protagonistic Natsu (like how all the "antagonists" in canon are "protagonists" in their own right – I like how Hiro Mashima does that)**

***~FIRST FANFIC!~***

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ELSE THAT MIGHT BE COPYRIGHTED THAT I MAKE REFERENCES TO, EITHER.**

**Note: There probably won't be much NatsuxLucy since the plot focuses mostly on Natsu's own adventures and stuff… there **_**might**_** be little implied tidbits of it here and there, but not very much.**

* * *

><p>"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Natsu growled ferociously. The entire guild had become quiet, and was listening in on the exchange going on at the moment.<p>

"You heard me," Laxus continued arrogantly and smugly. "You're a pathetic excuse for a mage. You're impulsive and you lack stuff up here-" Laxus poked Natsu in the forehead, "-and that thing about your little team being the strongest? What a load of crap." In the corner of the guild, no one noticed that Mirajane had started sobbing streams of anime tears.

The dragon slayer let out a battle cry and jumped towards the other dragon slayer. The blonde merely laughed, and held out a hand, electrocuting him to a crisp. Natsu fell to the guild floor, twitching and emitting smoke. Only a "hmph" was heard from Laxus before he turned and left. The rest of the guild slowly returned back to its normal noisy chatter, but Erza, Lucy, and even Gray kneeled down beside the pink-haired mess on the floor.

"Natsuuuuu, are you okay?" Happy asked.

"N-never b-been… bet-ter…"

Gray looked at him for a moment, then his expression turned smug. "Sheesh, Natsu, didn't expect you to be so weak. I mean, you just got KO'd by Laxus in what? One hit – "

Unfortunately, Gray never got to finish his statement, as somehow, Natsu had recovered completely from his oh-so-devastating injury and had delivered a punch to him, sending the ice mage flying across the guild.

"HAH! WHO'S KO'D IN ONE HIT NOW?"

Behind him, Lucy sweatdropped. _How does he even do that!_

"WANNA GO, FLAME BRAIN?"

"BRING IT ON, ICE FR – HEY!" It was Natsu's turn to be caught off guard with the sudden punch. Gray smirked. "Why you…" Immediately, he launched into a counterattack and the two of them became covered in a cloud of dust floating around the room; occasionally a leg or a head could be seen poking out of it.

"WHERE IS A MAN! NATSU AND GRAY ARE MEN! REAL MEN SPEAK WITH THEIR FISTS!" Elfman cheered on the two fighting boys' actions.

"STOP IT IMMEDIATELY YOU TWO, OR – "

However, Erza never got to finish her statement. She had, unbelievably, decided not to wear her armor today, as the weather was simply too hot. Instead, she had opted to go for normal attire that a woman would wear. Unfortunately, that didn't work out too well. Why?

One of the two quarrelers managed to accidentally rip her skirt, exposing her undergarments.

Silence filled the guild.

The silence was then replaced with the faint sounds of a few nosebleeds (loud enough to be audible) and perverted giggles.

And then a massive battle cry, and the war resumed, this time involving a requipped, armor-clad Erza as well as Natsu and Gray.

"Go Gray-sama! Juvia shall aid you in your valiant show of strength!"

"REAL MEN SPEAK WITH THEIR FISTS! LIKE THIS!"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME DRINK!"

"GO NATSU! AYE!"

"I think Erza should show us her panties again. Teehee!" Everyone sweatdropped at that. "What!" Makarov demanded, "don't pretend that you didn't like it!"

"Our guild master…"

"Master, shouldn't you try and do something to stop this?" asked Mirajane, who stood behind the counter on which Makarov was sitting.

The incident that had previously just occurred was quickly forgotten. Or at least, that's how most of the people felt. All except for one – a certain pink-haired fire mage quickly devising a plan to prove those words wrong.

* * *

><p>Mirajane stifled a yawn. It was approaching midnight, and the guild master was the only person left other than her.<p>

"It's getting late. I think I'm going to get going now," she informed him. He nodded sagely in response. "Yes, I think I will retire to my house as well."

The two of them walked towards the exit, Mira turning off the lights on their way. A few moments later, the entire guild was in complete and utter darkness.

All was silent. Everything was unmoving. Nothing was –

Wait. Is that the Pink Panther theme? Indeed, indeed it is!

"Happy, SHHHHH! I don't know if they're out of earshot yet. We should stay quiet for now."

"AYE SIR!"

"Happy!"

"_Aye, sir…!_"

Natsu brought his hands together and looked around stealthily. "Nin-nin!" Happy declared. "I mean, _nin-nin…!_"

The two partners in crime looked to their right. Nothing was there. In sync, they rapidly rotated their heads to the left. Nothing was there. After a few seconds, the fire mage took a tentative step forward.

_CREEEEAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKK._

Sweat began to form on his forehead. He took another step.

_!_

Natsu rushed at his max speed to the other side of the guild and up the stairs to the second floor, where all the S-class requests are located. When he got there, sweat was pouring down his face, drenching all his features. "Dang, Happy, how did you get here so quietly?"

"I flew."

Natsu faceplanted. Of course. How could he have forgotten that his best friend could _fly_. Heck, he probably would have been able to fly to the second floor and snatch a request a lot sooner.

"Whatever. Let's just take one of these stupid requests and be on our way. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll return by tomorrow morning." He accompanied this ludicrous statement with an equally stupid grin.

"Wait, Natsu. Maybe this isn't a good idea."

A frightening silence followed in the darkness. A bunch of thoughts were swirling in the back of Natsu's mind. _Something about the last time this happened…?_

Then as soon as the frightening silence came, it was gone. The two of them laughed.

"Natsu, this one looks pretty good!" Happy was pointing at one of the requests on the board while still in his winged form. "Hmm?" The dragon slayer detached the request from the board and read through it thoroughly. After a few seconds, he sweatdropped. "I can't read this…"

Happy took this opportunity to remark snidely, "ooooh, how could I have forgotten… the mighty Natsu Dragneel doesn't know how to read!" In return, he received a heated glare (heated enough to seem to glow in the pitch black guild). "You chose that one on purpose, didn't you? Just to poke fun at me?"

"No, Natsu! Here, let _me_ (snicker snicker) read it to you:

_Castle Romeo has been a long-standing monument in the kingdom of Fiore. It represents much of this land's history. Many former rulers have lived in it for their entire lives._

_Unfortunately, it has fallen into a state of disrepair. Those who have been hired previously to investigate the castle and clean it up have all disappeared – never to be heard from again. There have already been attempts to take it down, but some mysterious force prevents them from ever succeeding. Due to the vastness of the castle, and the fact that many of the previously hired investigators were high-level mages, we have accordingly ranked this request as such. It is uncertain what difficulties may await those who enter the castle, but they are certain to be unsavory._

_Because this castle is worth very much, and so many of the details of the mission remain unknown, the reward for this mission has been set accordingly._

_By taking this mission you agree to the terms and conditions:_

_We are not responsible for any opposition you may meet in the castle._

_We are not responsible if you –_

Wait, there's a smudge here."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever; doesn't matter, it's probably not important. Tell me what the reward is!" The boy was practically jumping up and down and swaying from side to side from the excitement that he was feeling.

The flying Exceed squinted at the request. "It's so dark… I can't see it clearly… I think it says three, followed by a bunch of zeros… million? Yeah! Three million Jewel!"

Natsu was bouncing up and down so rapidly that he was just entirely a blur. "LETS GO HAPPY!"

"AYE SIR!"

* * *

><p>(the next day)<p>

"MASTER MAKAROV!"

The mentioned man looked up from the beer that he was drinking. He was greeted with the sight of a _very_ anxious Mirajane.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"THE CASTLE ROMEO REQUEST!" Mira wailed.

Master Makarov suddenly got a very bad feeling about what would come next. "Castle Romeo? You mean that 7,000,000,000 (read: seven _billion_) Jewel reward one?"

"IT'S MISSING FROM THE HUNDRED-YEAR QUESTS BOARD!"

Everyone in the entire guild was silent. Hundred-year quests were no joke. They were serious business. Even the strongest of them, Gildarts, hadn't been able to complete the one that he had embarked on. To come back from one of those with your _life_ was already a good enough reward.

"… AND NATSU AND HAPPY ARE GONE!"

Makarov didn't respond. Instead, he tipped over sideways and lied there on the table.

"I think you gave him a heart attack."

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED!<strong>

**How do you like this so far? Don't expect this one request to define the plot though; I have much bigger plans. (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA)**

**If you are reading this, please do me a favor and REVIEW.**

**No reviews = no motivation to continue = discontinued story = :(**

**and :( is :(**

**and :( is bad.**

**THEREFORE, if you don't want :( , you should review. (by the contrapositive [yay])**


	2. Chapter 2

PRESENTING CHAPTER 2!

disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or anything else that I may make references to that are copyrighted.

* * *

><p>"CASTLE ROMEO"<p>

Natsu looked up at the wooden sign hammered into the tree before him. It was tilted and worn out; bits of it even seem eroded away. CASTLE ROMEO was labeled in big black letters on the wood. The dragon slayer looked around. Surrounding him seemed only to be expanse of forest. Where could this castle possibly be? A call from his partner pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Natsu! Over here!" shouted Happy.

He hurried over to join his cat companion. "Natsu, look what I found!" The cat happily pointed towards the ground. At first, Natsu saw nothing particularly interesting, and was going to voice that thought to Happy, but then he saw what Happy was talking about. There was a massive vertical tunnel into the ground that was covered by a few leaves and twigs.

"Is this supposed to be a trap! Not even Gray would fall for something as stupid as this. C'mon Happy, let's keep on looking for the castle. The sign was back there, so it should be getting close."

And so the two of them continued their trek through the unfamiliar forest. Animals scurried back and forth, making scuttling noises as they went. Natsu burned off a bunch of leaves that were blocking the path, or rather, the direction that they were walking in; as there was not really any path at all to follow. As the two of them wandered, Natsu let his thoughts settle on what would await them inside the castle. Would it be intricate traps? Near-unbeatable enemies? Though if the traps were only as "intricate" as the pitfall that they had encountered earlier, they should pose no problem, and enemies of any shape and any size were always welcome to him.

Soon, the two travellers found themselves in an open area, with the forest that they had just exited out of behind them, and a tall, vertical rock mountainside in front of them. To the left, the mountain seemed to extend forever, and a glance at the right revealed that the exact same was true for that side.

"Happy! Let's go up!"

"Aye, sir!"

Happy enabled Aera, and sprouted two wings. He grabbed ahold of Natsu and started ascending up the mountainside. Behind them, they could see the vast stretch of forest as well as the train station from where they had gotten off. The mountain seemed almost absurdly high. The two of them had been going up for quite a few minutes now, and yet the ridge of the mountain range seemed only a bit closer.

Eventually, the tip seemed close. "Only a little more, Happy!" Suddenly, just a few feet away from the top, the two stopped. They were suspended in mid-air for a moment, just long enough for Happy to announce in a flat voice: "My transformation wore off."

The pink-haired dragon slayer and his blue cat were sent hurtling down back to Earthland. A tall tree broke their fall, and exclamations of "ow!" could be heard as they bounced down on branches to the ground, surrounded by falling leaves from the impact. Natsu rubbed his eyes then stood up.

"WHAT? HOW ARE WE BACK HERE?" he exclaimed, while pointing angrily at something. Happy stood up groggily and looked to see what exactly Natsu was talking about. Before them was no other than the CASTLE ROMEO sign that they had been walking away from for hours. Natsu huffed and stomped off.

"Let's go, Happ – AHHHHHHHH!"

He never got the chance to finish his statement, as he just so happened to fall into the very same pitfall that Happy had kindly pointed out to him previously.

"Natsu, does this mean that you're dumber than Gray?"

The only response that the Exceed got was the echo of Natsu's surprised shout as he had fallen down the tunnel.

* * *

><p>"Master, you wanted to see us?"<p>

Erza, Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, and Wendy (and Charle and Patherlily) were gathered around their guild master, Makarov, waiting for him to give them the assignment.

Everyone already knew what the Master was about to say, as they had been in the guild when Mira had wailed about the missing hundred-year quest and dragon slayer (and cat). Still, they waited patiently for the master to inform them himself.

"Natsu has apparently run off on a hundred-year quest to investigate Castle Romeo."

In the room with just the six of them (eight, including the cats), everything suddenly became eerily quiet. The noises of the outside street could suddenly be clearly heard, flooding into the vacuum devoid of noise, whereas they would normally just have been blocked out. The light from the outside silhouetted the short Guild Master and the desk he sat on.

"And we're supposed to go retrieve him, right?" The iron dragon slayer inquired.

"Of course. I've specifically assembled your team as I believe you will be the best suited for this."

"But this is a h-hundred-year quest, right?" Lucy stammered out. "I-I mean, even Gildarts, the strongest in this guild, was nearly killed while doing one of these…"

Makarov looked up at them. "My hope is that you will be able to retrieve him _before_ he enters the castle. Who knows what's in that cursed place."

"But what if Natsu-san has already entered the castle by the time we get there?"

The master looked dead serious as he said, "Then you come back." He was interrupted by Gray.

"You can't be serious, right? We can't just leave Natsu there! That idiot will get himself killed!" This earned him a death glare from Erza. _Don't talk back to Makarov!_ it communicated.

"I am aware of that. However, this is a hundred-year request! Countless SS-class mages have already died on it. Even if the seven of you join Natsu, for a total of eight mages, you still won't stand a very good chance. I'd rather not lose the rest of you…" _and just hope that Natsu will turn out alright,_ he thought, bringing an unspoken end to the sentence.

"You will leave immediately. There is no time to waste!"

"Hai!" chorused everyone else gathered.

* * *

><p>"… aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHH – OOMPH!"<p>

Natsu looked at his surroundings. For the most part, it was almost pitch black, with the exception being where he sat, where there was a circle of light around him, emanating from the tunnel that he had fallen from. He stood up, but something fell on his head, sending him crashing back to the cold, hard ground. The thing that had fallen on him was none other than Happy, who merely stated, "My transformation ran out again…"

After taking a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness, Natsu saw that there was only one way to go in this strange corridor that he now found himself in. "Ugh, this place is so weird. I think we might be in part of the castle now, Happy! Let's go!" He held out a fist and flames engulfed it a moment later, illuminating the closest parts of the corridor. The two of them started walking. The beacon of light that marked where they had fallen from began to shrink smaller and smaller behind them – until it faded away completely, leaving Natsu and Happy in a corridor that was pitch black in both directions and only illuminated where they stood.

The walls of the corridor, along with the ceiling and the floor, were all completely blank at the beginning. However, as the two of them walked along, markings began to show. At first, they were just scratches, but then, there were clear bloodstains and then, even a strange bone here and there.

"This is really creepy…" Happy duly noted.

Natsu squinted into the darkness in front of them. "Is that… a light! An exit!" The two of them started running towards the exit. The light at the end of the corridor began getting brighter and brighter bit by bit, until it became only a few meters away, at which time, the blinding, pure white light engulfed them completely.

They blinked a few times, and Natsu raised an arm to shield himself from the unexpectedly blinding light. After a few seconds, once their eyes had both adjusted to the sudden change, he lowered his arm and looked around to see where he was. Once he did, the sight took his breath away.

Behind them loomed the tall ridge that they were unable to fly over. The mountain extended in both directions, and curled around in a circle to the other side from where they were standing, far off into the distance. It was like an enormous wall constructed by nature. But what truly amazed the two adventurers was what was walled in by the mountains. Before them loomed perhaps the most majestic building either of them had ever seen in their entire life. It was as if someone had taken the new castle-looking Fairy Tail guild and blown it up a few hundred times in proportion. It was decorated lavishly; fountains were everywhere as well as statues and other ornaments.

The entire castle was pure white. There were literally no other colors on the castle. Everything was white. The paths and walkways, the walls, and the towers, even all the decorations were a blinding white. It almost felt like a dream. The characteristics of the castle were distinctly magical; water fell from out of nowhere into nowhere, seemingly evaporating in the air, and parts of the castle were suspended in midair and apparently completely detached from the rest of the building, while rotating and orbiting slowly around the main part of the castle.

But something felt off. This castle had supposedly been abandoned for hundreds and hundreds of years, and yet everything about it seemed so clean. However, Natsu being Natsu, and Happy being Happy, neither gave this observation much thought. Instead, the two made their way towards the entrance to the castle, which was a pair of huge wooden doors that seemed to be even sufficient for Makarov to walk through in his giant form.

Natsu put his hands on the handles of the doors and pulled. The doors didn't budge. Happy started helping pull as well, but no matter how they tried, the massive wooden doors would not move.

"I guess they must be locked. Oh well, I have an answer for that!" The mage stood back a few feet and got ready. "Fist of the… FIRE DRAGON! Wait, what?"

The excited flame mage never got his chance to thrust his fist through the massive wooden doors, as they chose that moment to suddenly open.

"Whoa! You scared the door into opening!" Happy chimed in.

Unknown to the two, they were being observed very closely from far, far away.

* * *

><p>Suspended in midair over a large circular desk was a spherical lacrima that displayed every action that Natsu and Happy did, who at the moment were peeking into the entrance hall of the castle before entering. Around the table were many chairs, but only one of them was occupied. It was occupied by a young man, seeming only to be in his teens. He had scars on his face, and his hair was held back in a braided ponytail. On his arm was tattooed a strange insignia. His eyes were trained intently on the floating orb, pondering over the implications of the new development. With a wave of his hand, he sent the lacrima falling down onto the table, and the image within it dispersed.<p>

"You should be more careful with that equipment, Rednote. It cost me quite the pretty penny, and it would be most unfortunate if you were to damage it." These words came from the opposite side of the room from where the man now identified as Rednote sat. The figure was staring out through the windows that composed the entire wall on that side. His silhouette was framed by the grid of seams where the numerous window panels connected. This man also had the same insignia that Rednote had, except tattooed twice, once on the back of each of his two hands. "You seem quite… quiet, Rednote."

"Well, there has been a most… unexpected development." The person staring out the window turned his head slightly towards the seated speaker and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Oh? Is that so?"

Rednote growled. "Stop with it. I know you saw it just as I did, Four-Eyes." He who was addressed as "Four-Eyes" frowned. "I've told you that I don't appreciate that nickname. I don't even wear glasses."

A chuckle was heard. "Would you rather me call you Athena? What a girly name. Four-Eyes is much more fitting, if I may say so." He stopped chuckling for a moment, and then got back to the point at hand. "Well?"

Silence loomed between the two.

"Perhaps we should inform him."

Athena laughed softly. "Oh Redwood, how slow you are! I already have informed him. My archive magic is flexible indeed. My question was more of whether or not you believe… if this newcomer has the potential to be… it? Countless have fallen before this; their bodies litter the palace."

"I am uncertain, though I know well that _they_ speak highly of this boy's potential," responded Rednote, enunciating the word "they."

"Here he comes – one of them." Athena nodded towards the closed door, and no sooner than he had finished his statement, the door opened to reveal a third person. When he spoke, he cut straight to the point with no bantering as Rednote and Athena had done.

"Is it true?"

Rednote and Athena nodded.

The third figure paced back and forth. "This cannot be a mere coincidence. No. It is not possible. This is undoubtedly a sign. Rednote, the lacrima. Check on his progress."

Following the instruction, he brought the lacrima floating above the table he was sitting at again.

* * *

><p>"Roar of the Fire Dragon!" declared Natsu as he spewed out a cone of flame at his opponent.<p>

He and Happy had encountered no resistance once they had entered the castle, and it had almost seemed like it was going to be a stroll in the park. However, robotic humanoids had suddenly begun to appear and were attacking the two intruders along the path that they were traversing, which was on the outer parts of the castle – to the right was a solid wall, and the left was lined with windows. They had already brought down a number of them, but they were getting stronger and much more difficult to defeat as they proceeded deeper into the recesses of the castle.

Happy looked warily at the flames. Was the robot defeated? That question was immediately answered as the robot sprung out of the flames, apparently completely unscathed by the fire, and slashed at Natsu. Natsu ducked below the swipe and then punched the machine with a flaming fist. It stumbled backwards a few steps from the strike, but it got ready to attack again. Happy lifted Natsu off of the ground into the air after enabling his transformation, hoping that they could use the air to their advantage as the robots seemed to be grounded. Indeed, the robot made no move to engage, and just stood there. Natsu was able to take it out with another well-aimed punch propelled from the air.

He panted heavily as the metal parts of the machine crumbled behind him, sparks flying from the circuits that had been destroyed. However, he had absolutely no time to rest, as another robot appeared in front of him.

"Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

Once again, he was airborne, and was about to rush in and finish off the robot, but suddenly, four metallic blades sprouted from the back of it, and began spinning rapidly. In a matter of moments, it too was airborne, resembling a helicopter (A helicopter? What's a helicopter?).

"Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

The dragon slayer sent a stream of flame at it in the air. The machine responded by charging up something and then releasing it in a massive glowing sphere. The stream of fire and the glowing sphere of energy collided between them. It seemed to be an even cancellation, however, the energy sphere suddenly cut straight through the fire and went towards Natsu, who was thrown backwards from the explosion and fell to the ground with Happy. _Shit_, he thought, _I'm completely exhausted and almost entirely out of magic!_

The helicopter-robot advanced towards where Natsu stood, and began charging its sphere of energy again.

Just then, something caught his eye. How could he have not noticed earlier? Countless bright torches lined the wall opposite the one that was towards the outside of the castle.

Torches. Fire! He wasn't done yet.

* * *

><p>"ERZA! SLOW DOWN!" Gray shouted over the roar of the wind.<p>

The retrieval team was currently crammed inside of a magic-powered vehicle, with the exception of Erza, who was on the outside, driving it. They were moving at breakneck speeds; moving like a blur compared to the other cars, which were crawling in comparison.

"THIS ISN'T SAFE!" Lucy wailed.

"If you think _this_ isn't safe, why are you coming along on a mission to retrieve Natsu from a _hundred-year quest_, bunny girl?" Gajeel mocked her with a smirk. Wendy stayed silent, though inwardly frightened by Erza's lack of regard for safety, Charle just sighed, and Pantherlily shook his head.

* * *

><p>Rednote looked at the lacrima dubiously. "He seems to be in a rather poor state, if I may say so myself."<p>

"He will not be defeated so easily. I am sure of it." Sure enough, the instant he said that, Natsu inhaled the flames from half of the torches that lined the wall, dodged the incoming sphere of energy and continued his fight with the robot.

Athena raised his eyebrows. "Quite convenient to be a dragon slayer, isn't it now?"

"He has more potential than either of you could ever imagine… he will be the one to aid us in achieving our great, unified goal." He gazed back into the lacrima, seeing that Natsu had managed to take down the helicopter-bot and was continuing along his path into the depths of the castle.

The light from the magical seeing orb illuminated his face. The insignia that Athena and Rednote had was also tattooed onto him, but it was on his face, in blue ink, around his eye. The color complimented his hair, which was also blue.

"This turn of events… how unexpectedly… perfect!"

* * *

><p>O: if you don't know who that ^^^^^^ is, then…<p>

…

...

If you can see this, you can see the review button.


	3. Chapter 3

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's…

Chapter 3.

Thank you to everyone that reviewed!

Disclaimer – insert disclaimer here

I'm going to try and make this chapter a longer one; hopefully by the end of it, the Castle Romeo part of this story will be completed, as it is only the "prologue" for my master plot (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!).

ahem.

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><p>"CASTLE ROMEO"<p>

"This doesn't look like a castle to me."

"Yes, Gajeel, we can all see that," Gray muttered. They were all surrounded by trees in a rather dense patch of forest, in the middle of which, they had unexpectedly found a wooden sign labeled "Castle Romeo" nailed to a tree. This, of course, was the very same sign that Natsu had found earlier, but no one knew that.

Erza kneeled down beside the tree, examining the ground closely for any signs of footprints or anything that might provide a lead in their search. The rest looked around for signs of this mysterious "castle." However, no one's search was particularly fruitful.

While Gray prodded a weird bug with a short wooden stick (and Lucy looked on uncomfortably), Erza rose from her kneeling position and nodded to herself.

"Any results?" Pantherlily asked. Again, the redhead nodded. In one fluid motion, she then swiftly unsheathed her sword and pointed in a direction, where everyone else stopped to gaze. "That way!" She then began hacking away with the sword at some leaves and twigs that were dangling in front of her, obstructing their path. Gray and Gajeel followed Erza, and behind them followed the two Exceed as well as Wendy and Lucy.

"We'll just keep on walking in this direction for – KYAAAAAAAA!"

Gray stood there, completely and utterly dumbfounded. "Did that just happen… again!" **(1)**

* * *

><p>Two at a time, Charle and Pantherlily transported the remaining four mages down the tunnel to where Erza stood, who dusted off her armor that had gotten dirtied from the fall, and proceed to act as if absolutely nothing had just transpired.<p>

Gray, being able to use some of his common sense (unlike some people who will remain forever unnamed), decided to forget about the occurrence as well.

"It's freaking dark as shit down here!" shouted the voice of Gajeel, which was then shortly followed by what sounded like a bonk on the head.

"Lucy-san, do you have any spirits that can provide light?" Wendy's voice inquired.

"Requip!" There was a flash of light in the tunnel and a few moments later, Erza appeared without her armor, instead wearing a miner's outfit, complete with helmet equipped with flashlight. Though the light certainly wasn't as abundant as Natsu's fire would have been, it would be sufficient for getting them through the place.

"Erza, she asked me…"

"Is there a problem, Lucy?" Erza's frightening face was eerily illuminated by the single light on her helmet.

"No, not at all! Ha… ha…" In all truth, it wasn't as if she had any spirits that would have done the job anyway; nonetheless it was still a bit of a blow to her ego.

"Then let's get on with it." The seven of them walked down the corridor in silence, until Gray ventured curiously to pose a question.

"Why do you have that outfit anyway?"

* * *

><p>Within the depths of the castle, a certain pink-haired dragon slayer gasped desperately for breath. His clothes were in tatters from the repeated battles, and the path behind him was strewn with the remnants of the defeated opponents. All of the opponents thus far had been robots. At first, they had fallen easily, but as he progressed, some began to be more shrewd and powerful, and eventually they began to pose serious challenges. He had only just barely won the previous engagement, and was stopping to catch his breath. He slumped to the ground and let his head fall back against the wall with a thud.<p>

But he definitely wasn't going to give up. No, absolutely not. He was getting closer to the end; to the heart of the castle – he could feel it. He was no longer venturing along the edges of the castle, but moving constantly inwards. The two walls on either side of him were both entirely solid, but there was still plenty of illumination thanks to the oh-so-handy candles that lined the walls as well as the occasional skylight in the ceiling here and there.

Happy had ran out of magic a while back, making him incapable of using Aera further to aid Natsu in his battles, so he was now sitting next to the exhausted mage in his regular cat form. Being able to fly had been a major asset, and now that he would no longer have that advantage, battles would be considerably greater in difficulty.

* * *

><p>"You're certainly let him getting beat within an inch of his life."<p>

"It is a test that measures whether he is strong enough. Though from the first time I met him I had no doubts of his potential, this is still necessary, Rednote."

"I could just escort him to the transport beacon if you wanted me to, you know," Athena muttered. "Wait, what's this?"

The three of them each sat a bit straighter around the table, gazing into the crystal seeing sphere.

"It seems like there are more people that are about to participate in the request. How interesting."

"Athena, you did make it so that if there is currently one living mage within the walls of the castle, no others would be able to enter, correct?" Jellal asked. Athena nodded, confirming the statement.

Jellal seemed satisfied with the response and stared back into the lacrima, where apparently the retrieval team had encountered the invisible barrier that was Athena's enchantment. There was a bit of chatter among the seven that none of the three watching was able to hear, but they saw one of the mages (Wendy) light up in excitement, and turn to her cat (Charle). The cat then said something in response, and she and the other cat sprouted wings. Rednote raised his eyebrows. The two cats then began to ferry the mages through a window on the second floor, which was apparently not protected by Athena's enchantment. Jellal was livid, and sent a glare at Athena.

He, in turn, just laughed sheepishly. "Uh… oops…?"

Rednote sighed and shook his head. "How can you be so smart… yet so goddamned stupid?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

The two of them then proceeded to launch themselves into an argument reminiscent of the altercations that would unfold between Natsu and Gray of Fairy Tail.

The third blue-haired mage paid no attention to the quarrel, instead intently scrutinizing the new arrivals.

_Two magical cats… an Iron Dragon Slayer? An ice mage (yes, of course, only explanation for the stripping fetish)… a Sky Dragon Slayer? So many dragon slayers! And this one must be a stellar spirit mage, judging off of her keys… quite a few rather rare ones she has… and who's this? A coal miner?_ The "coal miner," however, was enveloped in a bright light before requipping into a suit of armor. _Ex-quip? Armor? Red hair?_ The woman turned around. Jellal's eyes widened in shock. _What a fateful day this is turning into! I cannot allow them to interfere with Natsu's progress, however…_

He then raised his head from the lacrima and looked to the other two in the room. "Rednote. Stop the intruders. Leave them alive, but do not let them interfere with the fire dragon slayer before he reaches the transport circle."

"Can't you do it? I mean, you're much more experienced with stuff like this."

"No… not for these people."

Rednote stopped his stream of insults against Athena and nodded. However, instead of leaving the room, as an onlooker might have expected, he closed his eyes, and a second later, a transparent duplicate of himself emerged from him. The transparent duplicate then slowly began to become more opaque until it looked completely indiscernible from the actual Rednote. It then nodded and vanished, leaving absolutely no trace.

"Wow Rednote, didn't know you had the mental capacity to do thought projections!" This earned him a growl in response.

* * *

><p>Erza scanned the group gather around her. Everyone seemed to be present, so it was time to get a move on.<p>

As the group of them continued their search for the missing dragon slayer, they came across the remains of his handiwork - broken robots that looked like they were rather dangerous (once upon a time) littered the floor of the castle halls.

_Natsu-san must be really strong_, Wendy thought.

"That bastard really is crazy…" Gray muttered. However, the ice mage did silently acknowledge that, if it had been him, he definitely wouldn't have made it through all of those opponents (assuming that he would have even gone in the first place).

He was brought out of his musings when Erza unexpectedly lifted her right arm, blocking his movement. "Wait." Everyone obeyed, and quickly fell silent. Pantherlily looked at the redhead questioningly. There seemed to be absolutely nothing amiss thus far, except perhaps the robots that littered the floor. However, the reason for Erza's halting was revealed momentarily. Far ahead of them, a faint squeaking could be heard.

"Could it be Natsu?" Lucy wondered aloud.

Erza thought briefly for a moment, but responded in the negative. "No. The sound is too… irregular. Natsu and Happy came here on foot, which means that if it were them, we should be hearing footsteps, or absolutely nothing at all – which would happen in the scenario that Happy was flying Natsu. Furthermore, it would be absolutely unlike Natsu to retreat back to this place.

"Which means…" Charle started.

The female cat didn't need to finish her statement as the rest of the group understood the implication immediately. Everyone tensed up and prepared for a possible confrontation with an enemy.

"Gajeel… what the hell are you doing?" Gray said, bewildered. Everyone looked back for a brief moment to see what Gray was referring to.

"Wha? – _crunch crunch crunch_ – I haf to get my strengff up if we're gonna fight!" The iron dragon slayer told him between eating mouthfuls of robot remains. Suddenly, however, his face turned green and he puked.

"Idiot, there's more than just iron in a machine as complex as a robot…"

"So, you must be the Iron Dragon Slayer then."

Immediately, everyone turned back in the forward direction to see where the voice came from. A shadowy figure emerged from down the corridor that was slowly approaching them…

"Is it a robot? It sounds human, if you ask me," Lucy whispered. The rest nodded. This was bad news, in a way, as a human opponent on a hundred-year quest was undoubtedly going to pose an exceedingly greater threat than a robot would.

_Wheels?_ Erza thought, looking at the figure. _There are two wheels_… _does that mean it could possibly be a robot?_

However, this notion was quickly dispelled, and the seven of them were rather shocked to see that it actually wasn't a robot – but was instead a person; a person that was rolling towards them in a wheelchair **(2)**.

All the male members of the team resisted the urge to smack their foreheads (including Pantherlily). "Here I had thought that we would actually have a dangerous fight on our hands…" Gray muttered, while the other two nodded in agreement.

"Now, now, let's not judge by appearance, eh? It certainly wouldn't look good for you when I smash the skulls of you pathetic mages into the ground." The figure could be seen more clearly now.

"Bluenote Stinger?" Lucy and Erza wondered simultaneously. The newcomer raised his eyebrows at this. "Bluenote? You know him? Indeed, Jel-, uh, Master was quite right; this is turning out to be quite the unexpected turn of events today," where he quickly corrected himself before he let slip that he had ties with Jellal, as apparently, judging from the blue-haired mage's reaction earlier, there was some history between these people and him.

"Oh forget it. Handicapped or not, a fight is a fight!" Gajeel charged towards Rednote. When he was in range, he turned his arm into metal pole and got ready to ram the man sitting in the wheelchair with all his strength. However, when he brought his arm forward, he was surprised to find that he was unable to make contact. Instead, he had the very peculiar sensation of falling… backwards. He flew backwards, accelerating dramatically as he went, until he reached the other six, at which time he started to fall down towards the ground as well – tumbling a few times before he finally managed to come to a rest. He brought himself back onto his feet.

"Now, now, it's usually not a good idea to charge towards your enemy without knowing anything about their nature!" Rednote rested his chin on his left hand. "Tell me – are all dragon slayers this impulsive?"

Charle muttered, "I wish Wendy was a _little_ more like that…" to which, in return, Wendy quietly said "Sorry…"

Rednote sat back up straight in his wheelchair again. "Well well well! So you are a dragon slayer as well!" Rednote had actually already known that she was the Sky Dragon Slayer long before now. However, it was often better to do this, making them think that they had made a stupid mistake in revealing information. Indeed, Charle felt rather stupid for making that comment after Rednote stated this.

"Well. Anyway. Your metal friend back there has the right idea. I see that you are here to retrieve your friend that has wandered into this castle. How you got in here past the enchantments is already a surprise in itself, but I'm afraid that this is as far as you shall go. I'm not going to let you pass this point right here."

"Natsu's going to get himself killed! We have to hurry and retrieve him!" Erza growled.

Rednote responded with, "Tsk, tsk. You should worry about yourselves…" _and if what Jellal says is true, I doubt that your worries about your friend have any rational basis at all_.

Erza sent a flurry of swords flying at the handicapped mage. However, as they got within a certain distance of him, they fell to the ground suddenly with a loud clang. It was as if they had suddenly been swiped right out of the air by an invisible claw.

"Ice make… Lance!" A bunch of ice arrows flew towards Rednote following Gray's command. However, these projectiles had no better luck than Erza's swords, as they too fell suddenly to the ground. The ice, along with the swords, suddenly floated upwards and accelerated in the direction towards Erza and Gray. They were dodged easily, but left Gray and Gajeel rather frustrated, having failed each of their attacks, and Lucy and Wendy slightly worried about what kind of magic this mysterious person had.

"You see, your friend's participation is a key component to my Master's plan. I absolutely cannot allow you to interfere."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you think that Natsu would aid you in your 'plan'?"

Rednote stopped and thought for a moment. "Uhh… we have cookies on the dark side?"

Silence.

"… and cake too?"

More silence. Though now you could see Erza visibly shaking, seeming as if a slightly bigger push could cause her to defect to the "dark side."

Erza furrowed her brow and forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand – which was to dissect the opponent's battle strategy. _You can always have more cake when you're back at the guild_, she reminded herself.

Rednote was addressing them again, and some of them were talking back, but Erza paid no attention to this. _Just what kind of magic_… Her thoughts flashed back to Gajeel's first attack. _He flew backwards… and then, when it was mine and Gray's attacks, they just fell helplessly to the ground, and later they were sent flying back at us as well…_ her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. _Wait. They weren't just flying back at us… no… they were accelerating! Gajeel had been speeding up as he flew backwards, and his motion only went back to the normal, predictable motion after he returned to the area where we were… and the ice and swords… they accelerated backwards as well!_ She now recalled the person she had at first been reminded of when Rednote had showed up. _Bluenote Stinger – Gravity Magic! Is that what his magic is as well? Though it seems to be a more advanced form; he can control direction as well as strength? And why is he talking so much –_ Her eyes widened again when she arrived at the one and only explanation – and it was rather unsettling.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him, interrupting the speech that he had been giving to the other six. He raised his eyebrows in question, as if to ask, "doing what?"

"Why are you toying around with us?"

"I see… so the rumors about your keen strategic insight were not exaggerated at all, not at all. Indeed, you are correct. With my magical ability, I could have crushed you readily with no difficulty whatsoever."

Gajeel gritted his teeth. "Why you little…"

"However. Jellal informed me not to kill you, so it can't be helped, I suppose," Rednote finished his statement, shrugging his shoulders with a sigh.

He looked at the mages from Fairy Tail. The look on each and every one of their faces was pure shock and disbelief. The iron mage also took on a similar expression, though it took him just slightly longer to react.

_Was it something I said?_ The handicapped man thought to himself.

* * *

><p>Athena laughed raucously. Jellal just looked away. "Dammit," Rednote muttered, "and I was doing so well too!" The other continued laughing, and smacked his hand on the table a few times. With a frown, Rednote asked, "What the hell is so funny?"<p>

Athena took a few moments to calm himself; taking a few deep breaths. "Oh, it was merely the fact that, for a split second there, I thought that you had actually gotten smarter," he chuckled. "But that would be a sure violation of some tacit universal rule."

"I don't know what the hell that means, but I don't like it."

"Oh yes, you realized just now that the things that I just happen to say, are by some coincidence, things that you don't like to hear?"

* * *

><p>"I-Impossible!" Lucy stuttered. "He was arrested, and just recently, we were informed that he was executed!"<p>

"Also, the Edolas-born lookalike, Mystogan," Charle added, "is currently in Edolas. So there is no way that you could have been ordered by Jellal or his twin."

"Lucy," Erza questioned, "what was that you just said about Jellal's execution!"

"Huh?" Lucy suddenly remembered that Mirajane had told them to try and not let Erza know, as it would most likely hit her the hardest. But it was too late now to withdraw it, so the blonde figured that she would just have to come out with it and spill the beans. "Yeah… the council decided that he was far too dangerous and had him executed." Upon hearing this, the redhead gazed down at the ground and fell silent.

Rednote took a moment to observe all of them. _What's this about getting executed? _he pondered. _He's obviously still alive… wait, ah, I see. Jellal, my respect for you has just gone up another notch – though I am frankly surprised that the trick duped the Council – again! But I suppose I'll frustrate them a little… whet their appetites; yes!_

"Is that so?" he spoke, catching the attention of the other mages once more. "Well, I can inform you first-hand that he is very much so still alive."

Erza spoke up again; "Where is he?" she demanded.

Rednote smirked at her. "Oh, I don't think I'm able to tell you that! In fact, I think my time is up – my job _here_ is complete." He waved at them, and he disappeared.

Gray's eyes bulged out of his sockets. "WHAT? HOW DID HE JUST DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT?"

"It's quite obvious, really," Charle lectured. "It was just a thought projection."

Lucy shuddered. _Erza found him, who turned out to just be a thought projection, to be that strong? How is that even possible! Just how strong is this guy?_

The mentioned redhead clenched her fists. "So that's why he was talking so much. He was just stalling us this entire time." _Toying with us…_ "Who knows what has happened to Natsu by now?"

At the mention of the dragon slayer that they had been sent to retrieve, everyone was immediately back at attention. "That's our job to find out, so stop dawdling!" Pantherlily ordered. Wendy and the others nodded, and broke into a run down into the recesses of the castle.

* * *

><p>Natsu had finally gotten up from his break and was ready to move on once more. He was still fairly exhausted, but he felt that he was in fighting condition. His cat partner, Happy, trailed on behind him. The two of them were descending down a staircase in the hall; the walls seemed to grow taller and taller, and the occasional window in the ceiling seemed dimmer and farther away with each step that they took. Finally, Natsu and Happy found themselves at the bottom of the staircase, confronted with a large door. The two grunted as they slowly pushed it open with their combined efforts.<p>

The room that they stepped into was a large circular one that was dimly lit with a few candles here and there. The two walked warily into the room, tensely observing their surroundings, worried that a robot would suddenly jump out and launch a barrage of attacks at them. They whirled around when they heard someone clapping slowly, cutting through the silence like a dagger.

The clapping was revealed to be coming from a man seated on a wheelchair that was gradually approaching them. Natsu and Happy got into a ready position, and he flew forward, aiming a flaming punch at what he believed was yet another opponent. However, he was surprised to find himself flying backwards into the wall, making a small crater on impact. The pain shot through his body but he couldn't bring himself to do anything at all about it. His form peeled off of the wall and fell on the ground. Happy noticed that, through all this time, the mysterious opponent had not ceased clapping.

"Well done; well done indeed. You know, I must say that when I first saw you enter the castle, I thought you would have been defeated by no more than the third or fourth robotic contraption. But instead, you managed to make it all the way to the end – something that not even some of the best SS-class mages have achieved – but you freaking consumed half of the lighting of the castle, freaking cheater…" where the ending was muttered under his breath.

Inwardly, Natsu felt really proud after hearing that statement – he didn't hear the second part, of course. However, no amount of internal pride could change the fact that he was lying on the ground helpless, and that the opponent seemed to be a completely alert _human_ that was apparently rather strong. The odds of this definitely didn't look very good for him. He tried to force himself up off of the ground, and managed to lift himself partially before collapsing again.

"Now, you see; if I wanted you dead, I would have done it already. But you see, that's not what I want. I'm here to congratulate you! Feel proud! You're going to become the key component of a grand plan that will have an impact on the world that is absolutely unprecedented!"

"What the hell?" Natsu groaned. "What kind of a lunatic are you? I just came here to test my strength… and the reward seemed pretty good too. So shut up already if you're not planning on fighting." He fell down again as the result of another failed attempt to stand up.

_So promises of strength entice you? How convenient. _"Unfortunately, the jewel reward was a complete load of fabricated lies. But seeing the kind of person you are, I think the true reward will be much more satisfying for you." Here, he pretended to think for a moment, stroking his chin with his hand. "What if I told you… that you could become the strongest in all of your guild? Stronger than your Guild Master even, perhaps?" Natsu's ears immediately perked up at this. Happy wisely uttered, "Don't listen to him, Natsu!"

But it was no use. Natsu had always been easily swayed by promises of strength. He always wanted to get stronger – it was his motivation for challenging virtually every single mage that he saw that was strong and worth fighting.

Rednote's thought projection continued to push further. "No, what if I told you that you wouldn't just become the strongest person in your guild – but the strongest… in the whole world!"

Happy, who was also exhausted from all the strenuous activity that he had been subjected to in the past few hours, tried in vain to get Natsu to realize the foolish mistake that he would be making. "He's lying, Natsu…!" he whispered as loud as he could. But his warning continued to fall on deaf ears as Natsu had devoted every iota of his attention on the mysterious wheelchair man that was giving him great promises.

Rednote grinned; he knew he had the boy now. With a wave of his arm, he activated the pre-established magical transportation circle that began to glow a bright yellow on the ground. It covered the entire floor of the circular room. The circle began to glow brighter and brighter, and it spun faster and faster. With a sudden, bright flash of light, the entire room was blanketed in a blinding brightness and a loud, shrill noise.

When the light faded away, and the noise disappeared back into silence, Natsu the Fire Dragon Slayer was no longer anywhere to be seen. "Natsu?" Happy croaked. There was of course, no response. The only other person that was in the room with the cat now was the wheelchair man – and he wasn't even a real person (Happy had no way of knowing that, of course).

A few seconds later, the clatter of many footsteps could be heard descending down the very same staircase that Natsu and Happy had went down just a few moments prior. The door flew open violently to reveal Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Lucy, Wendy, Pantherlily, and Charle.

"Happy?" Wendy asked, surprised that the cat was lying there. Charle was also worried, though she refused to let it show to the "he-cat." Everyone with the exception of the Ex-quip mage rushed to the injured and exhausted Exceed's aid.

Erza glared at the back of the man sitting in the wheelchair, who then turned it around to face her. "You," she growled. "Just who are you, and where is Natsu?"

"For your friend's safety, you have no need to worry. He is in safe hands. The same, however, cannot be said for you. Now that the magical transport circle has been activated, and it has completed its task, the castle has fully realized its purpose. This means that it will soon implode upon itself." Sure enough, as soon as he finished his statement, the ground began to rumble violently. With one last glance at the mages from Fairy Tail, Rednote made his thought projection disappear and re-assimilated the used magic into his real body thousands of miles away.

"We have to get out of here!" Gray exclaimed. Lucy picked up Happy and everyone frantically made for the door that they had entered from. As they left the circular chamber, the ceiling of it collapsed onto the ground.

The group rapidly ascended the flight of stairs. Behind them, some of the ceiling windows had shattered, and shards of glass were raining from the air. They soon found themselves back on the outer edge of the castle, where the light from the still bright sky that was now painted a beautiful orange from the sunset lit up the halls. Outside, some of the rooms that had been suspended in midair, floating, had now suddenly began to obey the laws of expected science once more and collapsed to the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces of rubble as they collided. Pillars began to crumble and chunks of rock began to fall from the ceiling.

"Can we fly out from here?" Gray shouted over the roar of the collapsing castle. Erza shook her head. "There is not enough time. We only have two fit Exceeds, and they would have to ferry us three times. There is no way the last trip would make it in time. We'll just have to keep running."

Lucy let out a frightened shriek when a rather large chunk of ceiling had landed precariously close to where she had been standing. "Get a move on, bunny girl!"

Soon, after much more running and a few more dangerously close calls, the squad found themselves nearing the entrance from where Natsu had come. Very fortunately for them, the enchantment on the castle had either been dispelled or was only set as a one-way spell, as nothing prevented them from exiting through there.

Everyone slowed down to a stop and caught their breath once they had safely gotten far from the building. Behind them was strewn the fallen remains of the castle that had been constructed as a lure – as the first key step to achieving the grand objective that so many others had attempted to succeed in, but all ultimately failed – and now, one step of this plan had been completed, and the building for which purpose it was made was now no more –

CASTLE ROMEO

End of "Prologue"

* * *

><p>1 – A reference to that particular incident in the Galuna Island arc.<p>

2 – Yes, he really is handicapped; he's not doing this to make them underestimate him or anything.

WOOT. DONE WITH CH. 3. I may slow down drastically in my next few updates, as I will be taking a number of exams, as well as preparing for vacation during the following week. I will still update over the summer – just not quite as frequently, as I have made a vow to do lots of math preparation ^^

Chapter 4 will detail a bit of Athena's backstory – or at least that's what I'm planning.

In the meantime, review! The button's not that far away. Reviews make me feel warm inside. :D Thanks to those who have reviewed so far!

ALSO. I will be changing the name of the story to "PROJECTIONS" if possible – as I have had sudden revelations in the overall plot… and I must say; it's undoubtedly a lot better than my original idea.

Projections… what on Earthland do you think that could be referring to? :3

I'll let you think about it.

Until next time,

BlanK_EffecT


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